News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis
A few years ago I got back in the saddle again. At age 63, more than 30 years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and about 50 years since I’d last ridden a horse, I found my feet in the stirrups, butt in the saddle and riding a gentle, friendly horse that was led around the ring at the Great and Small therapeutic riding center in Boyds, MD outside Washington,…Continue Reading
Kaleidoscope, Part I. Jameson digitally manipulated MRIs of her own brain to create a collage. All images courtesy of the artist. Elizabeth Jameson wants you to look at her brain. Actually, she wants you to stare at it. Over the last 20 years, she’s chronicled her multiple sclerosis by making vibrant prints of her magnetic… via Kaleidoscopic MRI Art Brings Beauty to Neurological Illness — The Creators Project RSS Feed
They’re not multiple sclerosis patients, but researchers using electrical stimulation of the spinal cord have returned some above-the-waste movement to two quadriplegics. In the past, researchers have been successful returning some voluntary leg movement to quads when the lower spinal column was stimulated by electric pulses, but this appears to be the first report that electrical stimulation of the cervical spine can produce movement above the waist; in this case,…Continue Reading
It had been hoped that Biogen’s experimental drug opicinumab would be able to repair mylin. As those of us who live with Multiple Sclerosis know all too well, mylin is sort of an insulator to our nerves. MS destroys mylin and, in doing so, short circuits our nervous system. Biogen announced today that Phase 2 of its opicinumab trial, named SYNERGY, failed to meet its primary goal of improving physical…Continue Reading
I love the summer. I also live at the beach. So, I’m just asking for trouble. I can’t help it. Being out in the sun is one of my greatest pleasures, followed by hanging around in the swimming pool at our condo. Note that I said in the pool. Staying in the cool water helps offset the problems that summertime temperatures create for those of us with MS. Even if…Continue Reading
I’ve been remiss in not noting World Multiple Sclerosis Day today until the day is almost over. But I hope that sharing this music video, by the band A Great Big World, will encourage you to take the name of the song to heart and that you Won’t Stop Running. Band member Chad King was diagnosed with MS in 2007. His first symptoms were vertigo and a weakness…Continue Reading
My neurologist tells me “the buzz is good” about ocrelizumab. The investing web site Motley Fool calls it “the revolutionary Multiple Sclerosis drug you’ve never heard of.” Ocrelizumab, which Genentech hopes to market under the name Ocrevus, is special because it’s designed to treat primary-progressive, as well as relapsing-remitting, MS. How does it work? I’m not a scientist, but after reading a lot of scientific writing here’s my best attempt to…Continue Reading
You have MS but you have some mobility. You need help to walk because your legs are weak or stiff, and your balance is off, but canes don’t give enough help and braces are too cumbersome or limiting. How great would it be to have something that’s relatively lightweight that you could wear and would help your legs move? That’s what a group of roboticists, mechanical and biomechanical engineers, software…Continue Reading
I grew up in Lower Manhattan. Though I’ve lived in Maryland since 1973, once a New Yorker…always a New Yorker. So, I’ve always felt the closeness of a New Yorker to the events of September 11, 2001. Earlier this month I finally had the opportunity to visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum to pay my respects to those who died there and also to see the magnificent 1 World Trade…Continue Reading
“You are what you eat,” some say, and that may be even truer when it comes to your MS. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston report that bacteria living in your stomach may influence cells that help control inflammation and degeneration in your brain. “For the first time, we’ve been able to identify that food has some sort of remote control over central nervous system inflammation,” says Francisco…Continue Reading